Forgive Robin Givhanher catty assessment of Elena Kagan's style. Givhan has a fantastic piece on a collection of 1,000-plus items of clothing owned by everyone from former slaves to the famous black dressmaker Lowe, which was maintained for nearly thirty years by two members of one family, and donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Included is the dress Rosa Parks was sewing on the day she was arrested. [WaPo]

Threadbared has a great take on the collection, and the politics of collecting and displaying objects that serve as such strong markers of class, too. [Threadbared]

The Times of London's David James Smith has written the best-reported story to date on the circumstances of Alexander McQueen's suicide four months ago. A warning: some of the details may be upsetting. [ToL]

Tyra Banks and André Leon Talley shot a tribute to the late designer for the former's "magaline." [Tyra]

Coach is suing the city of Chicago because it claims that counterfeit items were sold at a city-controlled street market. [WWD]

Halston, which is getting re-re-re-revived, will be back with men's wear, too. [WWD]

Naturally, after putting on a runway show dedicated to absurd headwear, when you are Pat Field, the thing to do is a swimwear show with "cute little sequined swimsuits that you can't really get wet, but you know, they're in the shape of a swimsuit." [The Cut]

We love it whenever women are described (which is frequently) as not being "afraid" of glamour/femininity/elegance/insert any positive noun for normative and good-looking. Are there really any women who actually "fear" the above? In our experience there are only those who abjure it in order to make other points with their dress. Anyway, here's a thing about a dress Lady Di wore when she "wasn't afraid to look beautiful and glamorous." [NYTimes]

"It's quite daunting, to be honest, and I was terrified because I thought, God, now I've really got to make this legitimate. I felt like they were all sitting in the audience thinking, Come on, model, sing," says Karen Elson, of performing live. "As scary as it is, I like making real, direct eye contact with people from the stage. In a sense it's like modeling: that feeling of locking in and projecting some kind of emotion to try to captivate people." [Vogue]

Ordinarily, once a model goes definitively in the "commercial" Victoria's Secret direction, she goes that way for good. (And is richly rewarded for doing so by Limited Brands.) Gisele, whom the fashion industry judges capable of wearing fluffy pink angel wings and of shilling for Dior and Versace, is probably the only current exception, but Miranda Kerr seems fast on her way to joining her. The Australian says she has a Jil Sander campaign coming out this year — which would presumably be for fall. And also "Vogue." She must mean a cover of Vogue, right? Could it possibly be American Vogue? [Modelinia]

Color us ignorant, but we had no idea that Ellen von Unwerth, whose sexy photos have given us so much enjoyment over the years, used to model. You're doing something right when people finally drop that slash. The German photographer has a new book out, a collection of her portraits of Hollywood stars. [T]

You can buy Chanel Iman's payment-in-trade cast-offs at her mother's new Culver City boutique. [Modelinia]

Sophie Dahl has denied, via Twitter, that her recent weight loss is intentional, and that her marriage is under any strain. Her weight, she says, "fluctuates as and when it pleases." [Daily Express]

Irina Lazareanu's clothing line, called Rini by Irina, will launch in Japan this September. We spoke with Irina recently and can add the following information to this story: the collection comprises 35 pieces, the most expensive item is a $500 leather jacket, she sought natural fibers over synthetics, and distribution beyond Japan is envisioned for 2011. [Elle UK]

Zappos launched its new sister site, 6pm, by accidentally pricing all merchandise at $49.95 for roughly six hours. The cynics are already calling it a publicity ploy; the site will honor all sales. [BI]

Rapper T.I. will star in the next campaign for his clothing line, Akoo. The last ads, which featured implied fellatio, were banned after receiving sufficient free publicity in New Jersey. [WWD]